This romantic comedy was a big hit in its native country of France. It has a whimsical AMELIE feel to it, but with a touch of darkness like WAR OF THE ROSES.
Julien (Guillaume Canet) and Sophie (Marion Cotillard, A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT) have been friends since they were eight years old. Since then they have been playing a game of dares with each other. As youth, the dares were fairly harmless parks like saying dirty words in class or peeing on the principal’s office floor. The film uses a bit of an unbelievable conceit to keep these two friends from hooking up at a younger age. There is no doubt that these two people are meant for each other.
However, when they get older and Sophie wants to get more serious, she can’t trust if what Julien is saying is for real or just a game. This leads into an exchange of dares that are emotionally brutal and even dangerous.
The two characters are fearless and enjoy the life and death nature of the dares. However, the film short changes the other people in Julien and Sophie’s lives. Their immaturity and selfish indulgences are pretty cruel if you think about it. The film could have easily remedied these issues, but I think the film is too drunk with its own whimsy to really pay too much attention to what the main characters are doing to the people around them. Those characters are really just props.
This hurts the film’s credibility and lessens the likeability of the characters, especially Julien. Yet, the film still works because of the whimsy. The tone perfectly captures the free fall rush that true love is supposed to feel like. If a comedy makes me laugh it works in my book. Likewise, if I am rooting for a couple to get together in a romantic comedy than the film works in the same way.
So this film works despite all its character development problems. The ending is especially troublesome, because it tries to play thing two ways — one way is cosmically grand, but disturbing, and the other is cute. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the film the way that romantic comedies are meant to be enjoyed. I really wanted the two pretty people to be together forever. The dark whimsical tone only added to my enjoyment.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
